Lawton City Council to sign off on economic development agreements

City Council members will be finalizing some terms for two economic development projects when they meet today.

The details of both have been put into place by economic development entities and members of the FISTA Development Trust Authority, and now are coming to the City Council for approval.

In south Lawton’s airport industrial park, council members will be looking at a basic term sheet that, pending approval, would allow city staff to begin drafting a redevelopment agreement. The project centered on Fisher59 would allow development of a distribution center on 15.71 acres of land with the airport industrial park, a project that already has gotten the green light from the Lawton Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), which owns the land.

The project is a $16 million investment to build a 100,000-square-foot warehouse with an 8,000-square-foot office facility and accompanying paved parking lot and loading areas on a tract immediately north of a similar project, the PepsiCo warehouse. The agreement specifies the developer will be reimbursed for an estimated $1.6 million of public, offsite infrastructure work: waterlines, sewer lines and roads.

Under the terms of the agreement, Fisher59 will buy the land from LEDC for $260,000 and make a minimum investment of $16 million, retaining 60 existing employees and adding 30 more with 10 years, with an average annual salary of $60,000. The firm’s developer also will design and build the public infrastructure necessary for the project, then seek reimbursement from the City of Lawton for that cost.

LEDC is to complete the land sale, then provide the proceeds to the City of Lawton, which will use the money as part of its reimbursement to Fisher59 for those off site infrastructure costs. The City of Lawton will active a Tax Increment Financing District over the area and commit to reimbursing the cost of offsite public improvements. In addition, the Lawton Economic Development Authority (a city trust) will manage the TIF District and handle the reimbursements to Fisher59.

Lawton Economic Development Authority approved the term sheet in January, while LEDC approved it in February.

The council also is being asked to approve a $9.6 million funding agreement with the Oklahoma Development Finance Authority and the FISTA Innovation Park.

FISTA has received a grant through the Community Economic Developed Pool Finance Act, Oklahoma Business Expansion Incentive Program, funding that will allow FISTA and its governing board to expand the park’s capacities while also investing in a lighting project designed to enhance the safety and security of personnel using roads close to Fort Sill. Specifically, the grant allocates $2 million for lighting improvements along Rogers Lane, near I-44.

The remaining funding will allow FISTA to tackle projects calculated to expand the facility while supporting its work on STEM-related activities for youth. The grant allocates $2.2 million for a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF), $2.8 million for a STEM lab; $2 million to expand existing conference room space; and $600,000 for an incubator and accelerator to support entrepreneurship and business growth. Members of the FISTA Development Trust Authority acknowledged the final step in the grant award process last week.